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Brown Butter Mashed Potatoes

Author Notes:Brown but­ter has such a won­der­ful rich and nutty fla­vor. I have been on a bit of a brown but­ter kick, mak­ing cook­ies and layer cakes with it. The brown but­ter makes reg­u­lar mashed pota­toes even more decadent.
—Katheryn's Kitchen

Food52 Review: Rich without being heavy, these grown-up mashed potatoes are nutty, earthy, almost with a hint of caramel. Additionally, the instructions for browning butter (my first time) were spot on. The changes in color, aroma, and the like, as described by the recipe author, were very helpful in leading a first-timer through the process. Simple to prepare, but a nice change of pace. —NY Momma & Foodie

Serves: 6

Ingredients

2
pounds Yukon Gold or yellow-fleshed potatoes (I like leaving the peel on, but you can peel if you like.) Really any potato would work, including red or white.

1
cup buttermilk

1 to 2
teaspoons salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2
cup unsalted butter

In This Recipe

Directions

In a medium pot, melt 1/2 cup of unsalted but­ter over medium-low heat. It will heat, then foam, then turn clear-golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir fre­quently, scrap­ing up any bits from the bot­tom of the pot as you do. Don’t take your eyes off the pot -- you may be impa­tient for it to start brown­ing, but the period between the time the but­ter begins to take on color and the point where it burns is often less than a minute. As soon as the but­ter takes on a nutty color, turn the heat off.

Cut pota­toes into large chunks and place in a medium-sized pot and cover with hot water. Bring to a boil over high heat and, once it is boil­ing, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 20 to 30 min­utes, depend­ing on the potato size. The pota­toes are ready when a par­ing knife can be inserted iwith lit­tle resistance.

Now drain the pota­toes of all the water, mash them (skins and all) a lit­tle, and add the browned but­ter, but­ter­milk, salt, and pep­per to taste. Con­tinue mash­ing until they are smooth and fluffy. Taste and add more sea­son­ing if nec­es­sary, then serve.

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Hey everyone, I have added 1/2 cup of unsalted butter to the ingredients but for some reason it sporadically shows up. So please know that I have tried to add it. Thanks and I hope you enjoy the recipe.